Kaine Demands Trump Administration Explain Saudi Arabia Troop Increase

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, released the following statement on the Administration’s latest troop deployments to Saudi Arabia:

“President Trump told the American public that he’s bringing our troops home, and then he turned around and sent them to guard oil in Syria and protect Saudi Arabia. This week, the President sent us a war powers notification stating that he’s expanding our presence in Saudi Arabia to 3,000 troops. Congress can’t sit back and let these latest troop deployments in the Middle East go unquestioned. The Trump Administration must immediately explain why we are sending American servicemembers to support Saudi Arabia despite the Saudi regime’s egregious human rights abuses and the lack of a joint defense agreement between our nations. If they don’t, I’m going to file a resolution to force a debate on President Trump’s latest expansion of our military involvement in the Middle East without authorization from Congress.” 

This week, the Trump Administration sent a formal war powers notification to Congress stating that additional U.S. forces are being deployed to Saudi Arabia. For years, Kaine has been the leading voice in Congress raising concerns over Presidents’ efforts to expand the use of military force without congressional authorization. Kaine has also been outspoken against the Saudi regime’s continued human rights abuses and has called on Congress to serve as a check on the Trump Administration’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.

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